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Duncan museum unveiled

In celebration of the City of Duncan's Centennial in 2012 the Duncan Business Improvement Area and the Cowichan Valley Museum & Archives opened a new outdoor historical exhibit last Friday: Duncan's V.I. – the story of the settlement of Duncan.

The photographic exhibit is located in the alley adjacent to the Bank of Montreal and 149 Canada Avenue.

"(With) Duncans, V.I. — a name by which the City was known prior to its incorporation in 1912 — the transformation from a small townsite to the commercial centre of the Cowichan Valley is illustrated through series of archival photographs from the collection of the Cowichan Valley Museum & Archives," MaryAnn Hartley of the Duncan BIA said in a press release.

"The people of Duncan expressed their aspirations for the city in the architecture they erected and the services they established during the boom years of the early 20th century.

"As the townsite grew, merchants and residents, agitated by the lack of services and proper roads, petitioned the Province of British Columbia to secede from the Municipality of North Cowichan and incorporate the City of Duncan, which they successfully did on March 4, 1912.

"Through these historical images from Duncan's past, visitors to the exhibit will get a sense of what life was like here 100 years ago."

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